WFP suspends aid to Somalia after ship hijacked
NAIROBI, Tuesday (Reuters) The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP)
said on Monday it has suspended aid shipments to lawless Somalia after
gunmen hijacked a vessel it chartered and demanded a $500,000 ransom.
"WFP has suspended all shipments to Somalia due to insecurity of the
waters along the east coast," WFP spokeswoman Rene McGuffin said.
"This decision will be reviewed on the release of the vessel," she
added. On average, WFP provides 3,000 tonnes of aid a month to 275,000
people in the Horn of Africa country.
It said it only has two weeks' worth of food inside Somalia.
Militias captured the MV Semlov and its 10 crew members a week ago
while it was en route to the northern port of Bossaso.
WFP said a delegation from Somalia's new transitional government had
travelled to the region from Mogadishu on Monday to negotiate with local
elders and militias.
"People are still trying to negotiate the release," said Inayet
Kudrati, director of the Kenya-based Mokatu Shipping Agency, which
leased the ship to WFP.
He said the agency had not had any contact with the crew - a Sri
Lankan captain, a Tanzanian engineer and eight Kenyans - since the
ransom demand was made last week.
The Kenyan government said in a statement the men were "safe and in
good health". "The government is monitoring their condition and working
closely with the United Nations to get them released," the statement
said. |